I am delighted to publish David Kinch’s review of four
outstanding restaurants in Tokyo.
The Michelin guides awards more three stars to Tokyo than to any other
city in the world, but for many of us, including myself, the very best of the Japanese cuisine remains a black box.
Kinch, owner and chef of the Manresa
restaurant in Los Gatos, where I had some of my
best meals in the States, has visited Tokyo
with a Japanese friend who helped him navigate some terrain unknown to Westerners. Personally I found his reviews to be very
honest in the sense that he makes a very sincere effort to come to terms with a
genre of cuisine which is new to him, and he approaches this new realm with an
open mind and scientific curiosity.
Being a world class chef certainly helps him to delve deeply into some
details, but he never loses sight of the greater forest.
I hope the readers of gastromondiale will enjoy and benefit
from these reviews as much as I did.
Vedat Milor
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SUMMARY: Chef Achatz
offers an avant-garde cuisine with unmistakeable personality. Achatz
loves to compose his dishes from too many elements, but he does not lose
sight of overall balance. More often than not his creations are harmonious and
pleasing both to the eye and to the palate. On the other hand, some dishes are
overwrought and unnecessarily complicated.
He should also be commended for not losing the clarity of ingredients,
despite overly manipulating them. This
said, his penchant for seeking the most intense taste often leads to excessive
use of “de-hyrdrating and smoking” techniques to the detriment of tiring the
palate and detracting from the overall progression of the meal.
The overall progression of the meal is indeed quite random.
There is no well thought out rationale as to why some dishes are offered in the
sequence they are offered. The wine
pairing in Alinea is also not perfect. It is much better to order an Austrian dry
Riesling and/or a Chablis than to ask for the expensive and not well conceived wine pairing program.
Gastromondiale ranking: 16/20 or **
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